Unlike the Commonwealth Parliament, the Premier and Governor of Victoria have very little discretion in dissolving the Victorian Parliament. Both the Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council are dissolved automatically twenty-five days before the last Saturday in November every four years. However, the Governor can dissolve the Legislative Assembly if a motion of no confidence in the Premier and the other Ministers of State is passed and no motion of confidence is passed within the next week. Finally, the Premier can advise the Governor to dissolve both houses in the case of a deadlocked bill.

The French National Assembly can be dissolved by the French President at any time after consultation with the Prime Minister and the presidents of the two chambers of parliament. The National Assembly elected following such a dissolution cannot be dissolved within the first year of its term.

According to the German constitution, the Bundestag can be dissolved by the federal president if the Chancellor loses a vote of confidence, or if a newly elected Bundestag proves unable to elect a chancellor with absolute majority. The second possibility has never occurred yet but the Bundestag has been dissolved in 1972, 1982, and 2005 when the then-ruling chancellors Brandt, Kohl, and Schröder deliberately lost votes of confidence in order that there could be fresh elections. On the last two occasions the decree of dissolution was challenged without success before the Constitutional Court. No president has yet refused a dissolution of the Bundestag when the choice came to him.

The Bundestag is automatically dissolved four years after the last General Election, and most Bundestags have lasted the full term.

The second federal legislative body, the Bundesrat, cannot be dissolved, as its members are the federal states' governments as such rather than specific individuals.

In Hong Kong the Chief Executive, who is the head of the territory and head of government, has the power to dissolve the Legislative Council if it fails to pass the appropriation bill or any other important bill, or if it passes a bill but he or she refuses to give assent. In the latter case if the Legislative Council passes the bill again with two-thirds majority, the Chief Executive has to resign. This has not happened since 1997. Before 1997, the Legislative Council could be dissolved at the Governor's pleasure.

Legislative power is constitutionally vested by the Parliament of India of which the president is the head, to facilitate the law making process as per the constitution (Article 78, Article 86, etc.). The President summons both the Houses (the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha) of the Parliament and prorogues them. He can dissolve the Lok Sabha

Dáil Éireann (the lower house) can be dissolved by the President, on the advice of the Taoiseach. The President may only deny such a dissolution if the Taoiseach has lost the confidence of the Dáil, through a vote of no confidence (or, it could be argued, after a Budget or other important bill has failed to pass). This has never happened, and, in the past, Taoisigh have requested dissolutions before votes of no confidence have taken place, so as to force a General Election rather than a handover of Government. A Dáil must be dissolved, and then a General Election held, within five years of its first meeting.

There are two notable instances when the President did not dissolve Dáil Éireann: 1989 and 1994. In the first instance, the newly elected Dáil failed to elect a Taoiseach when it first met (and at a number of meetings afterwards). The incumbent Taoiseach Charles Haughey was obliged constitutionally to resign, however he initially refused to. He eventually tendered his resignation to President Hillery and remained as Taoiseach in an acting capacity. At the fourth attempt, the Dáil eventually re-elected Haughey as Taoiseach. Had he requested a dissolution, it would probably have been accepted by the President on the grounds that the Dáil could not form a Government, but the President would have also been within his rights to refuse it. It is thought that Haughey chose not to do so but instead to go into a historic coalition because of poor opinion polls showing his Fianna Fáil party would lose seats in a second General Election.

In 1994, Albert Reynolds resigned as Taoiseach when the Labour Party left a coalition with Fianna Fáil, but did not request a dissolution, in order that his successor in Fianna Fáil might forge a new coalition with Labour. Labour however went into Government with the main opposition party, Fine Gael. It has been speculated that the President at the time, Mary Robinson, would not have allowed a dissolution had Reynolds requested one. To date, no President has ever refused a dissolution.

One feature of the Irish system is that although the Dáil is dissolved, Seanad Éireann (the Senate) is not, and may continue to meet during an election campaign for the Dáil. However, as many members of the Seanad are typically involved in election campaigns for the Dáil, the Seanad does not typically meet often, if at all, once the Dáil is dissolved. A general election for the Seanad must take place within 90 days of the election of the new Dáil.

In Italy the President has the authority to dissolve Parliament, and consequently call for new elections, until which the powers of the old parliament are extended. However, the President loses this authority during the last six months of his seven years term, unless that period coincides at least in part with the final six months of the Parliament's five years term, as stated in Article 88 of the Constitution:[1]

"In consultation with the presiding officers of Parliament, the President may dissolve one or both Houses of Parliament. The President of the Republic may not exercise such right during the final six months of the presidential term, unless said period coincides in full or in part with the final six months of Parliament."

In practice, after the resignation of the Government, which can be freely decided by the Prime Minister, or can be caused by a vote of no confidence by the Parliament, or after general elections, the President has to consult the speakers of the Houses, the delegations of the parliamentary groups and senators for life trying to find someone who might be appointed Prime Minister and lead a new Government with the confidence of both the Houses. The President dissolves Parliament only if the groups fail to find an agreement to form a majority coalition. Therefore, the actual power of dissolution is in practice shared also by the Parliament, political parties and by the outgoing Prime Minister, if he still has influence on them.

Since the Constitution has been in force (1948), Italian Parliament was dissolved 9 times before its 5 years term: in 1972, 1976, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1994, 1996, 2008 and 2013.

The House of Councillors however, cannot be dissolved but only closed, and may, in times of national emergency, be convoked for an emergency session. Its members serve a fixed six-year term, with half of the seats, and the Speaker of the Councillors, up for re-election every three years.[2]

The Emperor both convokes the Diet and dissolves the House of Representatives, but only does so on the advice of the Cabinet.

According to the Romanian Constitution, voted in 1991 and revised in 2003, the President may dissolve the Parliament only if the Parliament rejects two consecutive candidates proposed by the President for the function of Prime Minister. Both houses can be dissolved. No dissolution of the Parliament has taken place in Romania since 1991.

Under section 2 of the Scotland Act 1998, ordinary general elections for the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May every four years (1999, 2003, 2007 etc.) The date of the poll may be varied by up to one month either way by the monarch on the proposal of the Presiding Officer. However, section 4 of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 has postponed the general election that would have been held on 7 May 2015 to 5 May 2016 to avoid it coinciding with the UK General election fixed under that Act.[4]

Under section 3 of the Scotland Act 1998, if the Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved (with at least two-thirds of the Members voting in favour), or if the Parliament fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within certain time limits, the Presiding Officer proposes a date for an extraordinary general election and the Parliament is dissolved by the monarch by royal proclamation.

Under the Wales Act 2014, ordinary general elections to the National Assembly are held the first Thursday in May every five years. This extension from a four- to five-year term was designed to prevent Assembly elections clashing with general elections to the Westminster Parliament subsequent to the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011.